My Dutch Birthday BBQ

Since we're already on a commercial break from the England trip, here's what happened last evening at my birthday celebration here in Gorinchem, NL, where we live.

When we found out on Facebook that our favorite café lunchroom was having a Dutch BBQ

on Friday the 13th for the first Dutch game of this year's World Cup,

I told Astrid that THAT'S where I wanted to go for my birthday

(instead of where she had planned to take me).

I had never experienced a real Dutch BBQ and it made sense to do it on this special game day!

She totally agreed.  De Malle Molen (= The Laughing Mill) it was.

Dress code, of course is ALWAYS orange for Dutch sports.

Astrid borrowed the neon-orange overalls she had given son Jeroen years ago.  HA!

Did you notice the menu up above in the first collage?  

We chose one of each, which meant we ended up with 5-7 different types of meat...each.

This is how the Dutch do it...and YOU grill it yourself.

(In case you're gasping, we did have enough left-overs for another meal at home later!)

After eating, our very special Malle Molen lady, José, got us even more ready for the game.

More Dutch you cannot get!

To our great surprise, another patron, Ferry, took pictures of us.

Oh, yes.  We get around!  :)

Even though ORANGE is the color of the day, the Dutch flag IS red, white and blue.

How's that for game spirit...rivaling any other place in the world, I might add.

I'll dance to that...especially when you're waiting for the game to start!

(We arrived at 6 p.m. and the game started at 9 p.m.)

The Dutch were NOT supposed to win this game with Spain,
the reigning world champion, but they did:  5-1.
This video is the reaction on the big screen after the first goal by the Dutch.
(Astrid says that's her whistling in the beginning.)

En dat was het.  And that was it.
My birthday celebration at a real Dutch BBQ with a World Cup win!
It doesn't get much better than that for a full-moon Friday the 13th.

Hup Holland Hup

Sheep Shearing and Such in Dutchland

Let's take a commercial break from our England trip and throw in some fun...for my Friday the 13th, full-moon birthday!  (Supposedly there won't be another full-moon Friday the 13th until 2049, when I assume I'll be dead and buried.)

This past Monday was Pentecost Monday here in the Netherlands, a federally-recognized holiday.  And what did we do?  Well, just watch!

We drove back to Ottoland to the sheepfold to see the sheep being sheared.

(or is that shorn? either or?)

You may recall we were there in March to see the new-born lambs!

How is it possible that the sheepfold could have been emptied of all those sheep

in order to set up a fair-like venue for a special day!

We even bought some multi-grain flour for our bread machine, ground by a nearby windmill.

We got there in plenty of time, before it was too busy, and watched vendors set up shop.

Have you ever seen a spinning wheel like that?

There was a potter...

 ...a face-art painter...

...and even live entertainment.

But when we got to the fleece corner, we were reminded what we had come for.
Yup...to see the sheep being shorn!
Clearly many had already had their haircuts...their 3kg bundles for sale at €8 each.

From the outside, a wee pen was already loaded with the lucky few for the day.

And because we were early enough, I had a front-row show for the first sheep of the day.

Father and son brought in one sheep at a time from the make-shift pen.
Ready, set, go!



Now THAT is an education!  Five minutes from beginning to end.
(The record for sheep shearing is 45 seconds.  Can you imagine?)

BTW, Astrid says it's cruel NOT to shear sheep, especially for the summer months.
Did you notice how much this one seemed to enjoy the whole thing, kinda like a massage?!
In fact, even the sheep waiting seemed all comfy and cozy, as though knowing what was in store.

And after the shearer was done, he rolled it all up for the fleece stock,
while explaining the properties of the fleece, with its lanolin, and such.

He got such a kick out of my excitement, he came over to show me the shears.
Just like farmers everywhere, he knows his stuff.

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As if that weren't enough, as we left for the car, we heard a ruckus across the street.

What to our wondering eyes should appear but...TRACTORS.

A tractor parade of way over 100 tractors of every type and kind and brand!


I suddenly remembered my video option and caught the last 20 at the end.
How cool is that for a holiday ho-hum thing to do!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And since three is a charm, you know...

...as we arrived at the sheepfold...

...and as we left, we saw several groups of Roparun runners.
These were running from Hamburg, Germany, to Rotterdam, and just happened to pass by
right outside the sheepfold on the same road where the tractors also were.
Is this crazy or what!  Running 560 km in 3 days to raise money for cancer.
In 22 runs over the years, €57 million has been raised thus far.

How's THAT for a day outside on a holiday weekend, shooting the breeze!